Re: Most Memorable Skating Moments Ever

[c]<font size=4>[b]No contest. Shae-Lynn Bourne's nipple slip. For a very discretely edited version of the now world famous photograph (cropped just above what would alter the picture from a G rating to a PG rating), click <font color="#FF0000"><a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/images/bourne340_183_10186318533807.jpg" target="_new">HERE</a>
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Re: Most Memorable Skating Moments Ever

Canadian Nationals - 2000(pairs) - 'nuff said.
Canadian Nationals - 2002(exhibitions) - a crown jewel.
Worlds 2001 - all disciplines were amazing and the exhibition.
Worlds 1984 - U&M(pairs). I became a fan of pair skating. Before that I used to watch only the singles. Since then, it is all pairs. Also T&D(dance) made me a fan of dance.
SLC 2002 - Feb 15 or 16. Seeing S&P get their gold medal. Finally.

Re: most memorable

I had to add another memorable moment, though I can't remember if it was Worlds or the Olympics, but I'm sure someone here will know. When Lu Chen finished her skate, she was down on her knees, pounding on the ice. There was so much emotion there, it was much more powerful to me than Tara's jumping all over the ice, because Lu had overcome so much. And then when she put her hand over her heart when the American National Anthem played...wow.

Re: most memorable

Re: most memorable

Laura - that Lu Chen thing was at the 98 Olympics.

Another moment that is certainly memorable, although not for a good reason, is Wotzel and Steuer at the 94 Olympics, Mandy Wotzel's horrible crash in the LP and Ingo Steuer having to carry her off the ice. One of the worst falls I've ever seen.

Re: most memorable

Didn't Mandy fall on top on Igor at the 1998 olympics and he got a bloody nose> I seem to recall this, where in an interview after the compotition he said he accually blacked out for a second, then hurried to catch up with the music and program. I think it must have been the SP. If this is false, why do I seem to remember it so clearly???:D :lol:
Laura

Re: most memorable

I think Ingo Steuer was one of the most beautiful and exciting male skaters I've seen in pairs skating. I thought he was more fluid than Mandy, who tended to tighten up from nerves. I haven't seen Ingo in years, but man, could that guy move.

Everyone has mentioned almost all my memorable skating moments. One that only I and those seated around me got was at the '99 SOI show in NYC. Ilia Kulik did his 3Axel right in front of me and I mean as if it had been planned just for where I was sitting. He took off about 8-9 seats to the left of me, hit the peak of the parabola just at my seat, and landed about 8-9 seats to the right of me. He was only about 10 feet in front of me, so close I could feel the breeze created by the jump, and his skates were about even with my head, that's how high he was. It was one of the most spectacular human athletic feats I have ever seen, if not the most spectacular. I knew he was setting up for a jump as he was stroking down the left side of the rink and then I could see it was going to be the 3Axel. I remember thinking, "I can't believe he is going to do that jump <strong>right here!</strong>" and next thing I knew, he was flying over my head. I've seen other skaters do other jumps up close, but never anything even remotely close to IK's 3A. As I've said before, for those of you who remember those old ads for Maxell--the audio equipment--where the guy is slumped low in an armchair in front of some stereo speakers and the sound is so supposedly so strong his hair and clothes are blowing back and he has to hold on to the chair, that is <strong>exactly</strong> how I felt watching Ilia do that 3Axel. At last year's Hallmark competition, when IK did his '98 Olympic LP, "Rhaphsody in Blue" with almost all the jumps, Scott Hamilton said, "Every moment he spends in the air is a gift to us all." Of course it's hyperbole, but seeing the guy live and that close, I have to concur: It was a gift.

That and having John Zimmerman all to myself at the buffet table at an SOI reception in '99 before anybody really knew who he was:lol: He was such a sweetie! I went up to talk to him because he was all by himself--if you can believe it! Everybody else was waiting for the SOI skaters or glomming onto Evgeni Platov and Maya Usova, who were among a number of skating "royalty" at the reception. I glommed onto Maya and Evgeni later Maya Usova has the softest hand I've ever felt and Evgeni, who I had such a crush on, looked so old--and not in a good way, sad to say.

Okay, my other memorable moments (some or repeats of what others wrote):
Todd putting the gold medal around his mom's neck at 1996 Worlds. That's class.
Sergei Grinkov's death, albeit a heartbreaking memory.
Drobiasko and Vanagas's Freedance from '02 worlds. What an incredible last hurrah.
Ilia Kulik's '98 Olympic LP. Most technically difficult program ever executed at the Olympics up to that time and virtually flawless. And I loved the shirt:smokin:
Grishuk/Platov's '94 Olympic FD. I loved it and thought it deserved the gold. G/P ushered in a whole new level to ice dancing: speed and inctricacy.
Wylie's '92 Olympic silver medal performances. He was such a gentleman throughout, too.
Talking to Paul at an SOI reception in '99. A genuine and genuinely nice guy.
Lu Chen after her LP at the '98 Olympics. Bowing to her coaches before she stepped off the ice as she wept--just killer.
Lu Chen's '95 World title.
Lu Chen and Michelle's '96 World LPs. Best head-to-head ladies competition I've ever seen.
Michelle's transformation from '95 to '96.
Todd Eldredge, Ilia Kulik, and Rudi Galindo at '96 Worlds. What a great podium!
Rudi's '96 Nats win in his home town. You could feel San Diego shaking all the way to NYC.
Oksana's Olympic SP and LP, '94
Olympic '94 Pairs LP: G&G, Mishkutenok&Dmitriev, Brasseur&Eisler--but especially G&G vs M&D--Beethoven and the Moscow School vs. Rachmaninoff and the St. Petersburg School.
Candeloro's "D'Artanigan" LP at '98 Olympics
First time I saw Plush do the 4-3-2. The 4-3-3 was great, of course, but the 432 came out of nowhere. After that, you knew the 433 was just a matter of time.
Yag's "Lawrence of Arabia"
Midori's 3Axel in her '92 Olympic LP after missing the first one. She hit the second at almost the 3:30 mark and literally brought the house down.
Seeing Kristi perform "Bridge Over Trouble Water" live.
Seeing Kurt do "Anteaus" and "Nyah" live.
B&S and Kaz&Dmitriev at the '98 Olympics. B&S were favored to win and had it until the last lift of their LP, on which they fell and slid across the ice (unhurt, thankfully). K&D rose to the occasion and became the champions they were destined to be that very night.
Yuka winning this year's Hallmark. More beautiful than ever.
Sasha's second place finish at '00 Nationals. Serving notice as the new kid on the block.
Naomi Nari Nam's second place finish at '99 Nationals. Serving notice that was never to be fulfilled, sigh
Sasha's debut of her "Malaguena" SP at SC--standing O even with the fall on the fw. Sasha's "Rach" performance at Lalique.
Vika at COR
Irina's comeback in 2000 with the first 3Lutz/3loop ever done by a woman at the GPF after not even making the world team in '99.
Tiffany Chin at '84 Nationals, seeing it live. I went to see Scott and Roz, but Tiffany stole the competition.
G&G doing "Vocalise" at World Pros.
A&P doing "Romeo and Juliet" and G&P doing the Michael Nyman FD at '98 Olympics. Great stuff and another turning point in ice dance.
G&P exhibition to Madonna's "You'll See." Surprisingly effective considering the music.
'92 Olympic ice dance FD-- Klimova&Ponomorenko, the Duschaneys(sp?), Usova&Zhulin. Every skate could have been a gold medal winner, IMO.
Witt in '84 and '88--"Madonna on Ice."
'88 Ladies Olympics, Manley upstaging Witt and Thomas in the FS.
'88 Olympics: G&G's short and long. So young and fresh and unbelievably amazing.
'88 Olympics: Battle of Brians, especially given what happened to both of them afterwards. I can't help but wonder, "What if the gold had gone to the other Brian?"
'93 COI: Seeing Brian Boitano skate live for the first time. Mr. Whoosh and the first and only skater I've seen to skate without friction between his blades and the ice. I swear, it's true. It's as if he sprays his blades with silicone.
'96 COI: Seeing Irina skate live for the first time. She was virtually unknown and skated in a costume that wasn't much more than a stretch-lace practice outfit. She opened the second half of the show, skating to "I Saw You Dancing" and set Madison Square Garden on fire. A standing O.
'96 COI: Seeing Tara skate live for the first time. She had an energy and spark that could not be stopped. Sadly, after '98 and the hip problems, I haven't seen it since.
'94 COI seeing Oksana live for second time, doing "The Swan" as Olympic champion. A completely different skater from the gangly girl I'd seen in '93.
Oksana's "Ave Maria" for "Tribute to Sergei Grinkov."
Katia's Mahler program for the Tribute to Sergei. Such raw emotion and power on the ice as I've never seen. Perfect choice of music.
'84 Olympics T&D "Bolero" AND their "Paso Doble"
Dorothy Hamill around '98 (I think), returning to performing and skating to Andrew Lloyd Weber's "Requiem."
'94 Olympic Candeloro's "Godfather" and Elvis's "Enter the Dragon" LP
Seeing Abt live at "Stars, Stripes, and Skates." That's when I "got" Abt.
Sitting next to Sir Button at "SS&S."
SOI '02: Seeing Lucinda Ruh skate live. Such a gift.
Irina's "Schindler's List" Interpretive Free Program in '00 or '01 and her "Piano Waltz" SP at the Nagano Olympics.
Michelle skating "Rush."
Bumping into Todd Eldredge by accident as he was going into the arena at the '98 GWGs. I managed to ask for an autograph and Todd was very gracious. Callaghan gave me a dirty look though:lol:
By chance sharing a cab with Cupcake and Vika on way to '98 GWG, back when they were just Elena Sokalova and Viktoria Volchkova. Yes, I did get their autographs
Talking girl-talk with Yuka Sato at the '98 SOI reception.

Sorry these are long and boring, but I did leave quite a few out Better to have too many than not enough.
Rgirl

Re: most memorable

Rgirl, they weren't long and boring! Well, maybe they were long but that's not a bad thing, it's interesting. You're so lucky to have seen so many skaters live! And to have met them too.

"Ilia Kulik did his 3Axel right in front of me and I mean as if it had been planned just for where I was sitting. He took off about 8-9 seats to the left of me, hit the peak of the parabola just at my seat, and landed about 8-9 seats to the right of me. He was only about 10 feet in front of me, so close I could feel the breeze created by the jump, and his skates were about even with my head, that's how high he was. It was one of the most spectacular human athletic feats I have ever seen, if not the most spectacular."

He's one I HAVE seen live though. He didn't do a triple axel, but I have to agree about his jumps. I saw him in July at the Nottingham Gala, and before then I wasn't really "into" him, I'd only seen his 98 LP and one or two other LPs before, and not watched them many times, so I wasn't particularly a fan or anything. But when he came out with Kurt B and Steven C at the beginning, the 3 of them did sbs russian split jumps and double axels (IIRC) and I was stunned at Ilia's jumps. They were SO high, and light, and floaty! They looked easy! It was amazing. It must have been incredible to see his triple axel that close up...